Katy Feeney’s impact won’t be forgotten
As the story went at the time, National League owners voted in 1992 to reject Bob Lurie’s plan to sell the Giants to a Florida group that would relocate them to St. Petersburg, Fla.
National League president Bill White was an advocate of keeping the Giants in San Francisco, as was Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley, who didn’t want the historic rivalry to disappear. In the end, Lurie’s only option was to sell to the Peter Magowan group, and the Giants stuck around.
And now we know more of the story. And that’s Katy Feeney’s involvement.
Feeney died in April at 68, just months after she retired as senior VP of club relations and scheduling for Major League Baseball. She was a baseball executive for four decades and had a Giants pedigree, the daughter of former general manager Chub Feeney, who was the nephew of Horace Stoneham, the owner who moved the team west in 1958.
A celebration of life honoring Feeney was held at AT&T Park on Thursday, and White, 83, said at an earlier tribute in New York that Feeney was “instrumental in making sure the Giants remain in San Francisco” with her input to owners, and added that she deserves a plaque at the Hall of Fame.
Lurie needed 10 of 13 votes from owners to approve his $115 million agreement with the Florida group, headed by Vincent Naimoli, but got just four. He sold to Magowan and Co. for $100 million. An expansion team was placed in St. Petersburg five years later.
Feeney’s connection with the Giants turned out to be an asset for the team. Not that she wanted it in a headline. Co-worker Phyllis Merhige (they left their jobs together) said Feeney never sought credit, compliments or to be the center of attention and forever was humble and self-effacing.
That’s probably why we didn’t hear about Feeney’s connection to the story until now.
Giants CEO Larry Baer, while not aware of her impact at the time, said Friday of White’s message, “Bill said she had a big influence. That doesn’t surprise me because Katy very much acted from her heart — she had a heart of gold — and mind. It would have been totally in character for her to do what she felt was right and not take any credit for it or receive any acknowledgment.”
Feeney eventually was going to return to the Bay Area. She graduated from Cal and relocated to New York in the ’70s to work in the National League office after her father left the Giants to become NL president.
She was the ultimate behind-the-scenes force, and her title didn’t define her. She was a liaison in countless matters, settled many a battle and poohpoohed friction. She was a trailblazer for women in baseball and did many jobs, including introducing players at postseason and All-Star news conferences and drawing up 30 teams’ schedules.
Milwaukee’s finest: What is it about former A’s moving to Milwaukee and becoming offensive terrors?
Eric Sogard joined the Brewers in mid-May, homered in his first game and hasn’t stopped producing. After hitting .239 with a .294 on-base percentage in his six years in Oakland, Sogard’s at .338 with a .449 OBP in 41 games.
Now along comes Stephen Vogt, acquired by the Brewers after the A’s designated him for assignment. In his third game, first at Miller Park, he homered twice in Friday’s 3-2 win over the Marlins.
He received a curtain call, the first he remembers in his career.
“You don’t have too many multihomer games in Oakland,” Vogt said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “unless you’re Khris Davis.”
Around the majors: Bruce Bochy had 23 career wins more than Dusty Baker to begin the season, but their teams’ play has narrowed the gap. Heading into Saturday, Baker (1,813) was seven wins behind Bochy (1,820). … Curious why the Nationals still haven’t added a proven closer when the entire baseball world knew in the offseason there was a hole. They took a flier on Francisco Rodriguez, who was dumped by Detroit because of a 7.82 ERA, but need a legitimate ninthinning presence if Baker is going to manage in the World Series. A couple of options: David Robertson, Pat Neshek. The Nats could learn from the Cubs, whose acquisition of Aroldis Chapman before the trade deadline last year helped make history on Chicago’s North Side . ... The Orange County Register ran a story on Dodgers outfielder Trayce Thompson’s long wingspan that he inherited from his NBA father, Mychal , as did his brother Klay of the Warriors. Long arms can help a batter reach pitches away but could be a hindrance on pitches in, and it’s an issue Thompson has tried to address. Wednesday, he hit his first big-league homer in nearly a year. The pitch, a 96 mph fastball, was over the inner half of the plate. … The Giants’ three-game sweep of Colorado was part of an eight-game Rockies skid that knocked them from first place, and it didn’t help that the rotation ERA in the streak was 10.22. The starters repeatedly got pulled in the early innings, but manager Bud Black didn’t freak out. “You know what I call a bad outing? A bad outing,” he said during his visit to San Francisco. “We just sort of bunched them together.” … The Giants’ Jae-Gyun Hwang homered in his third big-league at-bat, and the A’s Franklin Barreto homered in his second big-league at-bat. It was that kind of week.